Stoltenberg asks allies for more “political will” to accelerate the shipment of ammunition to Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged member countries this Thursday to show more “political will” to accelerate the shipment of ammunition to Ukraine, in a wake-up call to both the US Congress and the European members of the NATO. Alliance that has not met, even remotely, the objective of sending one million rounds of ammunition in one year.

“Ukrainians are not becoming worthless. “They are running out of ammunition,” the Norwegian warned at a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

As he stressed, the allies have the “capacity” to provide Ukraine with what it needs. What is missing, he criticized, is “to show the political will to do so” and present results “quickly”, because “every day of delay has real consequences on the battlefield in Ukraine”, where Russian forces have been able to make recent advances. thanks to its superiority in the supply of weapons.

Letting Russian President Vladimir Putin win would be a “historic mistake,” Stoltenberg recalled: “We cannot allow authoritarian leaders to get their way through the use of force. “It would be dangerous for everyone.”

The Norwegian has asked the United States Congress to approve the multimillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine that the president, Joe Biden, proposed months ago, and which is stalled mainly due to the lack of agreement among the Republicans.

“Every day that Congress is delayed, that translates into real effects on the battlefield,” he reiterated in an appearance with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda. The European leader was precisely in Washington when, on Tuesday, the United States announced the sending of a new military aid package to Ukraine for $300 million in ammunition and spare parts. But although the aid is considered a symbol after a three-month pause and at a time when the Republican candidate for the White House, Donald Trump, flirts with the possibility of suspending all contributions to the country besieged by Moscow, the amount is very far away. of the more than 60,000 million euros that Congress must still approve to repel the Russian invasion.

According to Stoltenberg, a NATO survey confirms that two-thirds of citizens of member countries, on both sides of the Atlantic, want their country to maintain support for Ukraine. “We also know that a large majority in Congress [estadounidense] is in favor of continuing support. “Now we have to see that public and political support expressed in a vote as soon as possible,” she insisted.

The message was not directed, however, only to Washington: “Both the United States, Canada and Europe have to do more,” stressed Stoltenberg, for whom it is important that the Americans, who continue to be the largest supplier of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, know that “you are not alone” and that your other allies are also pitching in.

On Wednesday, the Twenty-Seven took a first step by reaching an agreement at the ambassador level on the Assistance Fund for Ukraine, a special instrument aimed at providing weapons and training to the invaded country, endowed with 5 billion euros per year. The agreement, which must be ratified by the Foreign Ministers at their meeting in Brussels next Monday, finally provides for short-term flexibility so that, in the event that it is not possible to make “on-time” purchases of weapons and ammunition to the European industry, orders can be placed outside the European area.

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